Love, Manticore Style
by Ravenwood240
Summary: Love lives of the Manticores. If you don't know who the Manticores are, read Prophecy first or you'll be hopelessly lost. On the other hand, young love is young love, no matter when or who. This are love stories. Some of them will have higher ratings.
1. James and Tiffany

A Manticore's Love.

A/N: Those of you that are reading the Prophecy series can skip this, but for those of you that aren't, here's a bit of background on James Evans and Tiffany Potter. James and Tiffany are the only living Soulbonded couple in the world. The Soulbond is a complete melding of every part of two people. They see, feel, hear, taste, and basically experience everything each other does. If Tiffany stubs her toe, James can feel it. If James thinks about Purple Primates, Tiffany knows it. They are one person in two bodies. This comes with two major disadvantages; first, they age three years for ever year that passes, and no couple has ever lived more than fifteen years after the day they bonded. The second disadvantage is unique to James and Tiffany. They bonded in their first year at Hogwarts, and the pressures of their aging are beginning to affect them.

Chapter one: James and Tiffany.

Saturday morning, in the dim pre dawn light, two windows opened in Hogwarts, and two figures flew away from the school. They flew close together, and any Manticore that saw them would know it was James and Tiffany, simply because people without a Soulbond couldn't fly close enough to hold hands as these two were doing.

_"Do you really think this is going to work, James?"_

_"Professor Dumbledore said the couple at the Inn were expecting a young couple, who would be here every weekend for a while. As long as we act the ages we look, we should be able to carry it off."_

James and Tiffany were 13 by their calendar ages, but the Soulbond had an extreme physical reaction. For every year that passed, they aged three years. Just two years after bonding, they looked like people in their late teens. This rapid aging was beginning to cause them some difficulty.

Until James and Tiffany, previous Soulbonded couples had bonded after they were adults, and could openly deal with the physical urges and desires that came with the Soulbond. James and Tiffany couldn't do that, and the Soulbond had entered a new phase, and that was what they were going to deal with today.

_"James, is this really a good idea?"_

_"Do we have a choice? I'm not going through the next four years without looking into your eyes."_

_"What happens if we go too far? Neither of us has solved the problem yet."_

Tiffany was referring to the fact that gender based medicines would make the other half of the Soulbond ill until it wore off, and that included most forms of birth control that Wizards and Muggles used. They had found just two forms of birth control that might work, and both had their own problems.

James smiled as they touched down in the back garden of the Hogsmeade Inn. _"It doesn't matter right now. I'm more interested in your hair."_

_"My hair?" _Tiffany pretended to be offended. _"We're about to spend the whole day alone in a room, and all you can think of is my hair?"_

James stopped at the door to the Inn, and turned to look at Tiffany. His mental tone sent shivers of pleasure up Tiffany's spine. _"I'm thinking of your hair, because the thought of any other part of you makes my self control today very unlikely."_ He took her hand, and together they walked into the Inn.

The Hogsmeade Inn had three large rooms downstairs, and four smaller rooms. The larger rooms were the dining room, the kitchen and a library. The smaller rooms were two private dining rooms, an office and a small indoor garden.

James and Tiffany were standing in the entry looking around, when a voice came from a door on the left side of the hall. "Did someone come in?"

"Yes Ma'am." Said James politely. They could see the plants in that room, and then the owner of the voice came out of the door. She was a middle-aged woman dressed in Traditional Gypsy colors. The bright colors were made all the more apparent by the woman's girth. She was a hefty woman, nearly round, and Tiffany mentally scolded James for thinking she looked like a beach ball.

She looked the two of them over, and James noted the sharp glance. Somehow, he thought, she knew exactly who they were, and was choosing to keep quiet.

"You must be the couple Albus owled me about." She said, as she pulled a register from under the counter. "I'll need your names, please, and what room would you like?"

Tiffany had never stayed in any sort of hotel, and James just parroted things he had heard his parents say. "The Evans, and we'd like a suite, please."

The woman looked up at them. "Are you sure about the suite? It's a Galleon a day." She warned James.

James smiled and pulled a leather pouch from his robes. He opened it and gave the woman ten Galleons. "That will cover us for a couple of days."

She put the money away without comment, and pushed the register over for James to sign. "If you would sign here, please."

The woman spoke while James was signing the register. "Breakfast is from 0600 to 0800, and there's snack makings from 1100-1500. Supper is promptly at 1830." She smiled suddenly. "As you might be able to tell though, snacks can be found in the kitchen at any hour, and the House elf will deliver a tray if you wish."

James and Tiffany looked at each other and back at the Innkeeper. "A breakfast tray, please. We'll decide later about the other meals."

The woman nodded, and handed James a key. "You've got the room at the end of the hall upstairs. Go up the stairs, turn right, and it's the last one on the left."

James smiled and thanked the woman. They went upstairs, and down the hall and James opened the door. The door opened into a room with a fireplace, and a loveseat facing it. The only thing they really noticed though was the large bearskin rug in front of the fireplace. It dominated the room, covering more than two thirds of the floor. James took his eyes from the rug long enough to see the paintings and the one door across from the fireplace.

A sudden thought crossed his mind, and he went and opened the door. _"Tiffany, I think we might have a small problem."_ Tiffany looked at the room, and noted that it also had just one other door. That door was open, and she could see that it was a bathroom.

James groaned. _"When dad asked for a suite, he had four people, so they gave him suites with two bedrooms. We are a couple, so we get one bedroom."_

James and Tiffany had planned to sleep in separate rooms tonight to help reduce the temptations they would be facing. This threw a large kink in those plans.

James went and sat down on the loveseat. _"We could ask for a different room." _He suggested tentatively

_"What are you planning to tell the Innkeeper, to explain why we need two beds?"_

_"I guess I could sleep out here."_

_"Or I could,"_ said Tiffany. _"In fact, I would fit on the loveseat better than you would."_

James reached out suddenly and grabbed Tiffany, pulling her into his lap. _"I don't know, it seems to fit us just right." _James put his arms around Tiffany, pushing her hair off her neck, kissing the sensitive spot he had found months ago.

Tiffany arched her neck, melting into James. Then she pulled away a little. _"James, we came here to try and control this new thing, not snog in front of a fire."_

_"I know that, but I couldn't resist." _James sighed, but let Tiffany sit up next to him. _"How do you want to do this?"_

_"How else? We try it, and try to break out of it when we want to."_

_"Then let's do it."_

James and Tiffany looked into each other's eyes for the first time in three days, and it hadn't changed.

Tiffany saw James's eyes, the vivid green of polished emeralds or a summer meadow, and sank into them, seeing herself in his eyes, and him in her eyes, an endless image, reflected repeatedly. They tried to control it, until the physical sensations started and they were swept away on a tide of emotions and feelings.

James and Tiffany were vaguely aware, somewhere in the back of their heads that this new facet of the Soulbond was strongest on their deepest link, the one they hadn't told anyone about.

Tiffany felt her body responding to James's reactions to the warm, soft form in his arms, and at the same time, she was James, responding to Tiffany. She/he/they felt his/her/their pleasure, moving to increase it, feeling their/her/his pleasure increase as he/she/they touched each other. How long they spent, lost in the feel of each other's mind and body they never knew, but a sudden sharp pain lanced through them, and they broke out of it, blinking dazedly.

They had started on the loveseat, and now they were on the floor lying on the bearskin rug. The sharp pain they had felt had been James's head striking the corner of the fireplace hearth. They sat up, shaking out of the lingering effects of the rapport.

_"This may be harder than we thought."_ James said.

Tiffany took a deep breath that James echoed, and became aware that both of them were dressed only in their underwear. She looked around, their robes were still on the loveseat, and their clothes were scattered over the room.

She sighed. _"A lot harder."_ She stood up, noticing that both of them were sweaty, and that her hair was tangled.

James stood up and stood behind her, wrapping his arms around her. _"Finally, I get to take care of your hair properly."_

He let her go, and took her hand, leading her into the bathroom. Tiffany saw James's intention in his mind, and stopped him with a thought. He turned to her, in time to see her step out of her panties, and for the first time in their relationship, James saw Tiffany nude in person. He'd seen her body in mirrors and through her own eyes, but this was somehow different. It was stronger, and yet somehow softer.

Tiffany stood before him, and he looked at her. He swallowed twice before he could speak. _"Is this really a good idea?"_

_"I trust you, love. You would never do anything to hurt me."_

James stood there for a minute longer, and turned away to prepare the bathtub for them. Tiffany got her shampoo and other hair care things from the small bag she'd brought, and waited.

James half turned, so he could see her, and he smiled. She could feel his amusement at her anticipation of seeing him nude, and she smiled back, putting all of her feelings behind the smile. She felt his reaction, and played on it, walking toward him in a soft glide that emphasized the curves she had grown over the last year.

James stopped her as she reached arm's length, and looked at her. Tiffany could feel his desire, but under that was a deep love that dwarfed the lust into insignificance. James shifted his gaze to her face, just avoiding looking her in the eye, and sending them back into the rapport.

_"You are the most beautiful person I will ever see." _He stood up, and carefully picked her up, placing her in the garden tub as if she was made of spun glass, and would shatter with the least bump. When she was in the tub, he stood, and removed his boxer shorts. He eased into the tub behind her, and for the first time, they were touching bare skin along the length of their bodies.

Something happened then, as they relaxed, with Tiffany resting along his body. The lust muted somehow, becoming less important than the touch of hands in hands, or legs along legs. They dropped into the rapport, and their bodies were forgotten in this new touch of loving mind to loving mind. Somewhere in the back of her mind, Tiffany was aware of James softly, slowly shampooing her hair, but for the first time since James had started brushing her hair, his physical touch meant almost nothing. They touched, and it was secondary to the touch of their minds, so deeply intertwined that they weren't ever sure they were having separate thoughts

Tiffany had always known that James loved her, but now she could feel his love, not as the person he loved, but as he loved her.

It was fire and ice, every extreme of emotion. Love for her, fear for her, and despair, that they would have such a short time together.

James was feeling Tiffany's love at the same time, her love a shelter from the rage that he always had felt, and spent his life trying to control.

It was a whirlwind that blew through his soul, leaving him in a state of peace that he'd never known.

Later, for the rest of their lives, neither of them would ever know how they got from the tub to the bed, or how they dried off.

They lay there, lost in the rapport, and somewhere along the way, it passed beyond the rapport, and they melded into the one in two that the house elves had always called them. 

Tiffany was remembering growing up as a girl in Britain, and as a boy in the Montana Mountains.

James was remembering pranks played in America, and crushes giggled over with girlfriends in England.

Some time later, feelings of mutual hunger brought them out of the melding, but something had changed in them both.

They had always used words and sentences to speak to each other, and now, the thought was enough. As one thought something, the other thought it. It was a place that they had reached when they were deep in the rapport, but had never been able to maintain without it, and now they couldn't come out of it.

_"Do we care?"_

_"No."_

_"I love you."_ Which of them said it to whom, they didn't know, and they didn't care. It didn't matter, because they both knew that they were loved, in a way that nobody else on earth could even vaguely conceive, and they pitied those people for a minute, until the feelings of hunger returned.

_"I feel like I haven't eaten in a week."_

_"Me too. Let's go get something."_

They walked down the stairs hand in hand, and were greeted at the bottom of the stairs. "Well, I was beginning to wonder if you two were ever going to come out of there." The Innkeeper was standing behind the counter smiling at them.

James looked out the window, and blinked as he realized the sun was going down. Before he could say anything, the Innkeeper handed him a message. "This came for you this morning."

James raised an eyebrow, until he read the message.

_"Dear James,_

_We ran into a snag last night, and need to see you. Send an Owl and let us know when you're coming back, and if it could be before lunch, that would be great."_

_Flower Child_" 

_"Wait, we were there last night, and I don't…"_ Tiffany's thought trailed off as they considered their hunger, the Innkeeper's first words, the note and the setting sun.

James looked at the Innkeeper. "It's Sunday, isn't it?"

The woman eyes were laughing, but she managed to keep a straight face. "Why, yes it is. What did you do, sleep all weekend?"


	2. Adam and Lisa

A Manticore's Love

A/N: Adam and Lisa have their own problems. He's a Muggleborn Wizard, and she's the daughter of Draco Malfoy, unrepentant Death Eater and the man that betrayed both sides during the Voldemort War. Draco Malfoy is the second most hated Wizard in history, right after Voldemort. For all of that, he's still the egotistical Pureblood bigot he always was. If and when he finds out his daughter is dating a Muggleborn Wizard with absolutely no Wizards in his family for at least five generations back, I think they might have a few problems. Dealing with the way people are going to look at Lisa because of her family will be interesting also, but right now, all we're looking at is the bloom of first love. How do you ask the smartest girl in school to a dance?

Chapter two: Adam and Lisa

Adam Brooks, Prophecy's Warrior, Manticore and Muggleborn Wizard sat in Professor Binns' class with glazed eyes. That in itself didn't make him any different from the rest of the students, but his eyes were not glassy because Professor Binns was talking about the Goblin War of 1215. Adam couldn't have told you what the Professor was talking about today, which was unusual. If you were to ask him what Hangeld had for breakfast on the fifth of December in their first year, he could tell you after a minute's thought. Adam remembered everything, but he wasn't even hearing the Professor today.

His thoughts were on a subject that had begun to occupy a great deal of his thinking recently. Lisa Malfoy was the smartest girl in Hogwarts, beautiful and as far as Adam was concerned, perfect.

The point that concerned Adam right now was the upcoming Ball. This morning, he had happened to overhear a couple of Gryffindors talking, and one of them was intending to ask Lisa to the Ball. The idea of asking a girl to a ball caused very large butterflies to hold their own ball in his stomach, but the idea of Lisa going to the Ball with anyone else was worse. The Gryffindor in question had stated his intention to ask Lisa this Friday, which gave Adam just two days to ask her to the Ball.

Adam's biggest dilemma lay in another overheard conversation. Lisa and Emma had been talking at Chimera's table, and Adam had been studying, so he hadn't really overheard it so much as just heard Lisa talking about the various ways people asked other people to the Ball. Lisa had been bemoaning the stammering approach of the third year boys, most of which went something like this; "WouldyougototheBallwithme?", or "Uh, um, I was um wondering if uh you would uh go to the Ball with um, me?"

Since Adam had discovered that attempting to discuss anything personal with Lisa left him feeling like somebody had cast a Jellylegs spell on his tongue, he was fairly certain that any straight forward attempt of his to ask her to the Ball would result in his being grouped in the second category. Since Adam had a teenaged boy's fear of looking foolish in front of a woman he liked, he was not willing to do that.

Adam had been thinking about this topic all morning without getting anywhere, until a chance heard comment by Professor Binns started him thinking about approaching it a different way. His eyes lost the glassy look, and he began scribbling notes on a sheet of parchment.

Lisa Malfoy came to breakfast Wednesday in a grumpy mood. That was not unusual for the girl that had often and openly stated that mornings should be against the law. Dobby had delivered her morning coffee, and she was feeling human this morning, however. Her grumpiness came from another source altogether.

The Ball was just nine days away, and almost every female Manticore had been asked to the Ball already, but no one had asked her yet. She would have turned down every invitation but one, but not to get any proposals was humiliating. She was still fuming when the Owl Post came in. She looked up in time to see a plain Barn Owl from the School Owlery drop a parchment at her.

She opened the parchment after giving the owl a treat off the table and looked at it. She lost her grumpy mood as she stared at it. She wasn't sure, but it looked like one of the variant Wizard Runic alphabets from the middle ages. It interested her enough that she cut her breakfast short to run down to the library before classes started. She found the Alphabet after a short search, and checked the book out of the library to take with her.

Using the book, she had translated the note in less than an hour, and that left her even more puzzled, because it was a bunch of random groups of letters. She was double-checking the alphabet when she began to see a pattern to the groups, and realized that it had been coded as well as written in runes.

Decoding the message took her the rest of the day, and just before dinner, she was reading it.

_DR54872345 but higher than a Giant's leap_

_The god of thunder and lightning's day_

_After the passage of Uranus, before the dawn of Mars_

_Answers the question._

Reading the note was easy. The string of letters and numbers was a Military Grid Reference System thing, which told Lisa that a Manticore had written this. The American Muggle military used the MGRS, and it was what Wolfpack had been teaching the Manticores. Lisa borrowed Jerrick's map of Hogwarts, and plotted the grid. It led her to the Quidditch pitch, and the northern goals. She looked up at the goals, which were definitely higher than a giant could leap, and read the second line.

This line was easy. Thor's day, also called Thursday

Lisa stared at the third line for a few minutes, and went to the Astronomy tower to check on the planets. Uranus would pass out of sight tomorrow behind Saturn at 1532, and Mars would become visible at 1550. Somebody wanted her to be at the goalposts between those two times tomorrow. On a hunch, she checked the Quidditch practice list. Slytherin had the Pitch until 1530, and Hufflepuff had it starting at 1600.

That only left the fourth line, and Lisa had no idea what question would be answered. She started thinking about which Manticore had sent her the note. Whoever it was, he or she could plot a grid, knew obscure trivia about the days of the week and the planets, and either looked up the Quidditch schedules or knew them well enough to know when the Pitch would be empty. In addition, they knew something about Runes and codes.

After some thought, she narrowed the list down to maybe six Manticores. She went to bed without being able to figure out which of the six it was.

Adam had watched Lisa working on the note with a mixture of amusement and worry. It wasn't until she went out to the Quidditch Pitch that he knew he hadn't made the code or clues too hard for her to solve in the time she had. Now, he only had to talk to her, without tripping over his tongue or otherwise humiliating himself.

Thursday morning, Lisa woke up, and her first thought was about the note. The day passed much too slowly for Lisa, who was so curious about the note, that she managed to lose five points in Professor McGonagall's class for not paying attention. After classes, she sat in Manticore Hall, watching the clock. After twenty minutes, she was sure somebody had cast a slowing spell on it. Ten minutes before the time specified in the note, she left the hall.

Flying out to the Pitch, she circled the northern goals twice, before she spotted the small package on top of the goal. She flew over to the goal, and drifted up next to it. She took the package, and landed at the base of the goal. She opened the package to find a single red rose and the final clue she needed to figure out who her note maker was. It was a small drawing of her, and the style told her that Adam had drawn it.

She looked up, as Adam touched the shields over the Chimera link. _"So, what question is going to be answered?"_ she asked. She was hoping for the right question.

Adam drifted out of the sky, dropping the invisibility spell that he'd been hiding under and landed near her. _"I wanted to ask you to the Ball."_

_"You went through all of this, just to ask me to the ball?"_

Adam blushed. _"I didn't want to be like the boys you were talking about to Emma."_

Lisa blinked, and then remembered the conversation he was talking about. She smiled at him. _"You would never be like them. Of course I'll go to the Ball with you."_

_"In that case,"_ Adam said, taking a deep breath, _"I was wondering if you would wear this to the Ball." _He handed her a small box.

Lisa opened the bow, and her breath caught in her throat. Lying on a velvet cushion was a small pendant, of a white gold knight holding a silver sword. She knew what he was asking, but she had to be sure that he knew what he was getting into.

_"What about my family?"_ Lisa was referring to the fact that her family name was in disgrace and one of the most hated in the Wizard world.

Adam knew what she meant, but pretended not understand. _"I didn't make that for them, only for you."_ He looked at her._ "I know all about it, remember? I know, and I don't care."_

Lisa started to say something else, but Adam interrupted her. _"Lisa, I don't care who your father is, or what he's done. I am interested in you. Your mind, and the way you nibble on your hair when you think about things. I want to know what you're thinking about, and I want to brush your hair back from your face when you're writing."_

Adam blushed again, but decided that honesty was the only way to be with Lisa. Coming from a whole family of people that habitually lied and sidestepped any direct truth, she deserved that. _"I also want to hold you, and see if we can achieve the rapport James and Tiffany have."_

Lisa smiled softly, and gave him his answer.

_"You can't do any of that from over there."_


	3. Hangeld and Emma

Hangeld and Emma

_A/N: Hangeld is the son of Rubeus Hagrid and Olympe Maxime. Both of them were half giants, and active in the Voldemort war. That doesn't lessen the anti-giant prejudices that infests the Wizard world, or change the way people look at Hangeld. Emma Weasley is the daughter of Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger-Weasley. The two of them have been lab partners for two and a half years now, nearly three, and they're about to find out what everyone around them already knows. They love each other._

Emma Weasley was thinking as she walked toward Hagrid's cabin. Emily had asked her to do a couple of experiments and Hangeld had agreed to help with them. They were easy experiments, but still interesting. Emily wanted to know just how much weight the Starblades that all the Manticores had could carry.

Since Hangeld was the biggest person Emma knew, she figured she'd try flying with him riding on the back of her broomstick first, and then, if that worked, they'd use a sling load net to add weight until the broomstick wouldn't fly. She was still thinking about what to use for weight when a voice made her look up.

"Father's got that woodpile out back, we could use that." Emma smiled at her lab partner and friend Hangeld. She looked at him again, noting the way his wrists were sticking out of his robes. She stopped and looked at him, really looked at him.

"You're having another growth spurt, aren't you? Your robes don't fit anymore." She said, looking at the nearly seven foot tall bog walking up to her. Hangeld smiled and shrugged. Emma shook her head. "Well, it is an experiment in weight limits."

Emma had told Hangeld what they were going to be doing and Hangeld had brought one of Manticore's sling load nets. The nets were used to carry cargo and were the easiest way to carry things that couldn't be shrunk. It had two straps to attach it to a broomstick and a large bit of netting to hold the cargo they reduced the maneuverability and top speed of your broomstick, but had the advantage of being easy to use.

James had asked Emily to find out the upper limits of what a broomstick could carry, and that was when Emily had asked Emma to help. Emma noted that Hangeld was also carrying his Starblade. "What's your broomstick for?"

Hangeld smiled. "Each Starblade is made for just one rider, and I thought maybe they were made differently. We'll test yours first, and then mine, to see if they have the same limits."

Emma thought about that. A Starblade broomstick was individually handmade for a particular rider, and since they all had the same top speed, Emma could see where Hangeld might have a point. She looked at the Brown haired Hangeld, comparing his large frame and large build to her slighter build. "Good idea."

The two of them discussed how they would do the experiment as they walked, and they were ready when they got to Hagrid's cabin. Hangeld set his broomstick and the sling load net down while Emma got out a parchment and quill.

She wrote down the date and time and then mounted her broomstick, sitting a bit further forward than she normally did as Hangeld mounted the broomstick behind her. Emma lifted off, noting the slower reaction time of her broomstick to commands, and the sluggish feel of it. She made a couple of circles around the cabin, and landed to make the first of her notes. _"Hangeld, put about one hundred pounds in the net, would you?" _Emma didn't wait for his answer, but started writing down her notes.

Hangeld listened to Emma's thoughts as he loaded the net. Emma had the worst shields of any of the Chimeras, and Hangeld found the quicksilver flow of her thoughts to be endlessly fascinating. Emma's thinking jumped from thought to thought in some sort of free association that usually bemused Hangeld. He listened to her thinking about the test they had just done, the test they were about to do, and what she was planning after that.

Along the way, she had the little side thoughts that so fascinated Hangeld. What was for dinner, a mental note to make sure he got new robes ordered during the next Hogsmeade weekend, could you make a broomstick out of metal, what would happen if you used a 'Friendly Animal' potion on a Werewolf and more. Hangeld finished loading the net, and sat down, just enjoying the touch of Emma's mind until she finished her notes.

When Emma finished her notes, she mounted the broomstick again and positioned it so that Hangeld could attach the net to it. After that was done, Hangeld mounted behind her again.

Emma took off slowly until the straps were tight between the load of wood and the broomstick, and tried to lift off. The broomstick didn't move and Emma tried again.

Her Starblade didn't move for a second, and then it shot up, jumping about ten feet straight up in a split second. Hangeld wasn't expecting that, and his attempt to put his hands around her waist for the flight ended up with his hands slightly higher than Emma's waist.

There was an instant of frozen immobility, as they absorbed where his hands had ended up, and then three things happened at once. Hangeld pulled his hands away from her breasts, Emma lost control of the broomstick, and they fell.

Hangeld's arms went around Emma as they fell, and he twisted, so that when they hit the ground, he was under Emma, cushioning her. Emma lay there for a second, and then sat up, looking at Hangeld curiously. She reached with the Chimera link, touching Hangeld's shields, and Hangeld opened them for her.

Emma had realized that Hangeld was taking the brunt of the fall for her, and in that instant of the fall, she had felt several things from Hangeld. Fear for her, determination that she not be hurt, and something she wasn't sure of. That was what she was looking at now, comparing Hangeld's feeling for hers to her own for him.

_"How long have you felt this way?"_ She asked quietly, when she was done.

Hangeld looked up at her, and sat up, so that Emma was sitting in his lap. He put an arm around her as he answered her. _"I'm not sure. I only realized you were different than the others a couple of weeks ago."_

_"Is this Love?"_

_"How should I know? I've never been in love, and the only people that I know that are in love, are James and Tiffany and that's an entirely different sort of thing." _Hangeld thought carefully as Emma explored their feelings for each other carefully, comparing them, testing them as if it was an experiment. _"A Muggle writer once said that Love was when the other person's happiness was more important to you than your own. That is how I feel about you."_

_"Why haven't you said anything?"_

Hangeld sighed. _"Emma, look at me, and tell me what you see."_

Emma took him at his word, and looked at him. The first thing she saw was the brown eyes, similar to hers, but different somehow, and then the face of her friend._ "I see you, my friend."_

_"Some people see a half giant when they look at me."_ Hangeld sent a few of the things people had said about him to Emma, who was instantly furious.

_"Why haven't you said anything about this?"_

Hangeld blinked. _"Are you nutters? James would be hunting each of them down and using Tiffany's spoon on them."_

_"So? They deserve it."_

_"Then Professor Dumbledore would have to do something, and where would Manticore be?"_

Emma thought about it for a minute, as she leaned against Hangeld's chest, and rested there. _"You could have told me, at least. We have all those potions to play with."_

_"Emma, your shields aren't very good, telling you something is the same as telling all of Chimera."_

Emma blushed but had to admit he was right.

While she thought about it, Hangeld was trying very hard not to think about the warm body pressed against him. He was about to suggest they stand up, when he felt Emma's shoulders shaking slightly. He looked down at her, and her eyes were laughing. Hangeld blushed as he realized that he had not raised his shields, and she could hear his thoughts.

Emma stood up, and waited for Hangeld to stand. _"Why don't we take a walk?"_

_"Sure, but what about the experiment?"_

_"I think I've had enough of broomsticks today." _Emma sent him a picture of their last flight, along with her feelings as she realized where his hands were.

Hangeld blushed. _"That was an accident you know."_

They put the broomsticks in Hagrid's cabin, and started walking, just wandering aimlessly as they talked. Sometime later, Hangeld realized they were close to a place he'd been thinking about bringing Emma for a while, and he started guiding their path in that direction. Emma was too busy talking about them to realize they had a destination until Hangeld stopped. She looked around. _"Where are we? I don't think I've ever seen this part of the grounds."_

_"It's a little hard to find, unless you know where it is. I wanted to show you something."_

Emma looked around, but the only thing she saw was a small grove of trees with some sort of vine growing from tree to tree, making an impassible looking barrier. Hangeld walked up to the grove, stepped up close to two of the trees. He stepped sideways, and disappeared.

Emma walked up to where he had been, and saw how it was done. From a distance, the trees looked like they were connected by more of the vines, but there was a passage between the trees, just wide enough for one person. She went down the passage, and stopped in surprise. Inside the vine wall, there was a small garden, with a gazebo in the center of the glade.

The garden was heavily overgrown and neglected, but Emma could see that someone had put a lot of thought and work into it at one time. _"This is lovely."_

_"It was father's gift to mother, after they were married. It was her place, when she wanted to be alone. I come here sometimes when I need to be close to her. I can almost feel her presence here."_

Emma looked at Hangeld, who had a far away look on his face, remembering his mother. Hangeld's mother had been the Headmistress at Beauxbatons, until Albus Dumbledore had asked her to join the Order of the Phoenix during the second stage of the Voldemort war. She and Hagrid had been two of the Order assigned to help the Rangers keep the Death Eater led giants inside the giant lands, and they had been married there.

She had survived the Voldemort war, and given birth to Hangeld, but contracted some sort of disease a few years later, which had caused her to slowly waste away, until she died when Hangeld was seven. Hangeld never spoke much about her, and the rest of Manticore had respected his wishes.

_"She did the whole thing, using plants common to her home, so that she would always have a bit of home with her."_

_"We should take care of it." _Emma looked around, seeing where bushes and flowering plants had grown over the path that wandered through the garden.

_"Are you sure? I've always left it alone, the way it was when she died."_

_"Hangeld, do you really think the person that put all this work into the garden would want it to look like this?"_

Hangeld looked around, and noticed the few plants that were slowly taking over the garden, and that debris had clogged the fountain in the center of the gazebo. _"No, I don't suppose she would have."_

They started clearing the path, and trimming some of the bushes and plants, talking quietly over the link while they worked.

It wasn't until the sun was nearly down, and it was becoming hard to see that they stopped, and walked back to Hagrid's cabin to get their broomsticks. Along the way, Hangeld was surprised to find Emma's hand in his.

Inside the school, they didn't see anyone until they reached Manticore Hall, where twenty or so students were still working on various things.

All of Chimera was there, and Melissa looked up at them, blinked and started giggling. The rest of Chimera looked at them, and James motioned them over to the table.

_"What have you two been doing?"_

Emma and Hangeld looked at him blankly. James grinned and reached out to take a rose petal from Emma's hair, and they looked at each other. They were dirty, and both of them had various shrub and flower bits all over them.

Emma looked at James as if he'd lost his mind. _"Gardening. You know, where you take care of plants?"_

James blushed at Emma's teasing. James was not a very good Herbology student, and might have failed that class, if it hadn't been for the Chimera link. He recovered, and grinned at them. _"If you say so. By the way, did you finish those tests Emily asked for?"_

_"No."_ That was both of them, as they blushed darkly.

Melissa was examining them, and Emma opened a private link. _"One word out of you, and I'll tell Madame Potter that you want an extra class at night."_

_"I wasn't going to say anything James could hear, and __I think it's sweet."_

They pled the need to bathe, and escaped without anymore teasing.

Over the next two weeks, they spend most afternoons and weekends in the garden, restoring it to its previous beauty. By the first Saturday in May, they had everything finished except the fountain, and they got up early to work on it.

Emma and Hangeld had opened their shields to each other over the weeks, and now had a continuous private link. The only physical sign of their growing affection had been Emma's tendency to hold hands as they walked to and from the garden.

They reached the garden, and stopped to admire the changes in it since they had started work. The vine wall blocked most of the sideways light, and the sun fell through the leaves of the trees in a dappled pattern, small beams of light that fell on the plants like little highlights. The gazebo stood alone in the center of the grove, in a clearing with the sun washing it.

They started work on the fountain without talking, as something told them that this was going to be an important task and day. It took most of the day to clear and clean the fountain, and when the water started, they stood back, and Emma's hand found its way into Hangeld's as they watched.

Hangeld froze, his emotions a mix of love and sorrow, and Emma looked away from the fountain. Standing just under the trees, was a transparent woman. She was taller than Hangeld, and had a small smile on her face. The three of them stood there for an instant, and then she faded away, leaving behind a whisper that could have been heard, or merely in their minds.

_"Love has always been the greatest gift."_

__

_A/N: Fluff? Me? well, maybe a little. I did however, promise to post the angst, fluff and other bits as the right year happened, and this year, it's fluff time for 3 of the 4 couples in Chimera, and I just added the other Manticores because a couple of them had stories that caught my imagination._

_Wait until you meet Mel and Linda, who have been in love for three hundred years._


	4. Patricia and Melinda

_Long ago, I made a comment about Mel and Linda, and a Love that has lasted more than three hundred years. I have to admit that their story was only a Bunnie growing in the back of what passes for my mind then, and I goofed. Their names are Melinda and Patricia. It has been more than three hundred years though, and they are still as much in love as they were the day Melinda's mother murdered them._

_**Love Everlasting**_

Melinda Wellington watched the towers of Hogwarts grow as she crossed the lake. She'd lived in Hogsmeade all her life, and had seen the Castle many times, but tonight it was different. Maybe it was because she was finally going to attend the school, or possibly, it was the deepening night that made it look so different.

She took her eyes off the Castle long enough to look around at the flotilla of boats crossing the lake. A girl with reddish-blonde hair was looking at the people around her, and saw Melinda. She smiled, and waved at Melinda with an infectious grin. Melinda found herself smiling as she waved back

In the Hall, they listened to the Professor explain what they had to do, and followed her into the Great Hall. Melinda looked up, seeing the famous enchanted ceiling she'd heard so much about for the first time.

She saw the blonde girl again, when "Smythe, Patricia" was called up to be sorted. She was quickly sorted into the Ravenclaw house. She frowned at the thought of that House. Melinda didn't think she was smart enough for Ravenclaw, or brave enough for Gryffindor. She had seen some of the Slytherins in town on their weekend visits, and she hoped she was not like them. That left Hufflepuff, a fate that she was resigned to, even if they were, well, boring. She broke off her reverie as "Wellington, Melinda" was called and she walked up to the stool, where the Professor placed the Sorting Hat on her head.

The Hat's voice in her head startled her for a second, until she understood what it was saying. "A good mind here, Ravenclaw would be good for you. Let's see, hmm? Courage, buried deep, and needing a trigger to emerge. You are loyal, but you're not for Hufflepuff, nor for Slytherin. I think…."

"Ravenclaw," cried the Hat, and Melinda went to her House table as they cheered her. She saw a couple of empty seats, but one of them was next to the blonde girl. Remembering her smile and wave, Melinda sat down next to her.

Up close, the red tints in her hair were even more apparent, and the gray eyes that examined Melinda were bright with humour and happiness. "Hello, it appears that we're going to be great friends."

Melinda stared at her for a minute. "How do you know that?"

Patricia grinned and gestured at their table. "You may not have noticed, but there are only two Ravenclaw girls this year. Since that's you and I, we had better be friends, or this is going to be a miserable year."

Melinda looked around. She realized quickly that Patricia had been correct. While Ravenclaw had gotten nine students this year, they were the only girls in the House this year. She turned back to Patricia after looking around. "In that case, I'm Mel."

Patricia Smythe grinned at her. "Actually, I believe the name was Wellington, Melinda."

Mel giggled at the accurate imitation of the Professor's voice. "You're good at that, but I prefer Mel from my friends," she said, "that way I know if an adult is calling me."

Patricia smiled. "My friends call me Patty. So does my family, unless I'm in trouble."

Mel looked at the smiling girl, and came to a sudden conclusion. "That's fairly often, isn't it?"

The laughter in her eyes gave the innocent look away. "No, not at all. I never get in trouble."

The Headmaster tapped on his glass, and the Great Hall quieted to hear what she had to say. "Welcome to Hogwarts, or welcome back. I have some announcements to make before we eat. The caretaker has informed me that catching the group of students referred to as the Nightstalkers will be high on his list of tasks this year. I understand he wants to hang them in the dungeons. The Dark Forest is off-limits to all students. I also have the pleasure of introducing the new History of Magic Professor, Professor Binns."

A short man stood up as the students applauded politely. He sat back down and the Headmaster continued. "With the announcements done, it is time to eat. Let the feast begin."

As soon as the food appeared, Patty turned to the older student on her left. "Who are the Nightstalkers?"

The older boy grinned at her. "Nobody knows. They've pulled some bloody good pranks though, and they always manage to avoid the caretaker."

"How do they do that?" was Patty's next question.

The boy took a minute to swallow before answering. "That is one of the questions everyone would like to have the answer to. Rumour has it that they have an enchanted object that can't be seen by most people, and it warns them when people come near."

Patty sat and ate for a minute while she thought about that. "They sound like fun people; I hope I get a chance to meet them."

Mel frowned slightly at her. "Let's try to get through the first year at least without any trouble, OK?"

Patty grinned at her. "I'll try, but somehow, I'm not optimistic."

Over the next few weeks, Mel came to understand why Patty had not been optimistic about her chances of not getting in trouble. Patty was irrepressibly cheerful, and always on the lookout for a prank.

One of her favorite habits was slipping a mildly incompatible potion ingredient into somebody's potion, preferably one that would make immense clouds of smoke or incredibly bad smells.

Mel noticed almost instantly that Patty was smart enough to prank her own potions as well as Mel's, so that the Professor never caught on to her. That lasted almost two months, but any prank can be overdone, and Patty was finally caught. Mel was caught as well, since she'd collected the ingredient that Patty had dropped into the Slytherin's potion.

At detention that night, Patty simply grinned when Mel fretted over the mark on her record. "Calm down, one little detention is not the end of the world."

"No, it's not." Both girls whirled, and Mel gave a shriek. Seven black-clad figures floated on broomsticks. The figure in front shushed her. "You have potential, but you need to branch out more, and be careful to never fall into a rut with your pranks."

Patty was looking at the group with a smile. "You're the Nightstalkers."

"Yes, and we like to see that someone will be taking up the pranks when we leave. Good luck, and remember what I said." He was interrupted by a quiet whirring sound. A black ball came shooting in the door, and the seven people lined up. Mel got a glimpse of the ball when it hovered for a second next to the boy that had been talking. It looked like a Snitch, except that it was black with dark red wings.

Patty smiled. "Why didn't you keep the golden color? It's much prettier."

The leader turned, and they could almost see his smile under the hood of his cloak. "It might be, but it's also easier to see. Not a good thing when you are trying to be sneaky."

The figures flew out the door, and just a few seconds later, the caretaker came rushing in. "Which way did they go?"

Patty gave him her best innocent look. "That way," she said, pointing to a staircase going in the opposite direction of the group's flight, "they ran up those stairs."

The caretaker left as Mel stared at Patty. "You lied to him."

Patty shrugged. "It wouldn't be right to help him catch them after they stopped to talk to us, and gave us good advice."

Patty took the Nightstalker's advice to heart over the rest of the year, and as she learned more, the quality of her pranks grew. She was always willing to try a new prank, and only the presence of the Nightstalkers kept her from being the best-known prankster in school. Her only real problem was in Potions, where she simply could not go a week without doctoring a Potion.

She would accept the detention that Professor Grey handed out calmly. "I just can't help myself."

Mel and Patty did become the best of friends, and Mel usually went along with Patty's pranks, although she drew the line at some that seemed a little too dangerous to the person being pranked.

By the end of the year, neither girl could imagine what the year would have been like without the other. They promised to owl each other faithfully during the summer.

Mel kept her promise, and Patty tried, she really did. Patty wasn't much of a writer though, and Mel got just four owls that summer. Having lived with Patty for the preceding year, she had been fairly certain that Patty wouldn't write, and was pleasantly surprised when she did get a letter.

The next two years went by in much the same manner and their friendship only grew. They had fights, but only one lasted more than a day, and it was forgotten almost as soon as they made up.

Things didn't change until their fourth year. The school had always had a Ball at least once a year, and this year was no different. This year it was going to be a Spring Ball, on the first Friday in April.

The night it was announced, Mel and Patty were getting ready for bed. "Patty, who do you want to ask you to the Ball?"

Patty was quiet for so long that Mel was about to repeat the question. "I really can't think of a boy that I want to ask me."

Mel blinked, and stopped with her nightgown in her hands. "Not even Sam Merrick?"

Sam Merrick was a fifth year Ravenclaw, and it was the opinion of the Ravenclaw women that he was the best eyecandy in school. Patty just smiled and shook her head. "What about you, who do you want to go with?"

Mel shrugged, and then blushed. "Well, since you don't want him, Sam would be nice, but I think I'd prefer Cedric."

It was Patty's turn to blink, and stare at her friend. "Do you mean Cedric O'Neill? The Gryffindor?"

Mel blushed again. "Mel, you do know that he's a"

Mel interrupted Patty. "Yes, I do, and it doesn't matter. He's sweet, kind and the girls that danced with him last year said he was a good dancer. I find that to be far more important than who his parents might have been."

Cedric O'Neill was the ward of one of the Borderers, Patrick O'Neill. He was also a Half-giant, as his size made plain to anyone that looked at him. In his fourth year, he was the tallest student in Hogwarts, and taller than most of the adults as well. His choice of careers was as obvious as his size, since he always wore the mottled green and brown leathers that were the unofficial Borderer uniform. He wore the school uniform when he had to, but as soon as he could get back into his leathers, he did so.

Patty smiled at her friend. "Whichever it is, I hope you enjoy yourself."

Mel finished getting ready for bed, and was soon asleep. Patty climbed into bed a few minutes later, and turned to stare at Mel's bed. She wondered what Mel would say if she knew that the only person Patty wanted to take her to the Ball was Mel.

Patty had become aware that she was different from the other girls only recently. She knew that while Sam did look nice, he had never roused any feeling in her, and that when she dreamed of love at night, the other person was always feminine. For nearly two months now, that feminine figure had been Mel.

Patty sighed, and turned over to go to sleep. Maybe she'd get lucky, and wake up normal in the morning.

A week before the Ball, Mel woke up late one night, needing to use the toilet. She climbed out of bed quietly, and started across the room. A moan from Patty's bed stopped her, and she turned that way, thinking her friend was having a nightmare. She was just about to wake her, when some motions and a soft moan told her just what kind of a dream Patty was having.

Mel rushed to the toilet, her face flaming as she thought about what she'd almost interrupted. She stayed a minute, wanting to be calm when she went back in the room. She smiled as she wondered what boy had attracted Patty's attention that way.

She went back into their room, and was removing her slippers when a sharp gasp and a muttered word told her who Patty's dream lover was. She froze, and at another moan, fumbled for her wand. She cast a silencing spell over Patty's bed, trying to ignore the fact that it had been her name on Patty's lips.

Mel sat on her bed, and tried to think. Anger, embarrassment, mortification, hurt and a dozen more feelings chased each other through her mind, and it was over an hour before she could start to think.

Another hour's thought did nothing to dispel the turmoil in her mind. She was hurt that Patty hadn't told her that she liked girls that way, angry that she hadn't trusted her enough. The thought that she didn't want to know that Patty liked her that way crossed her mind, and she smiled wryly at the vague thought. She wanted to know Patty thought like that, but not about whom.

She finally fell asleep without coming to any conclusions.

The next week was very long for Mel. Patty didn't act any different than she ever had, but Mel watched her, looking for any sign that Patty was doing anything about her dreams.

Her attitude affected their friendship, and by the weekend, the two of them were barely speaking. Ever since they had become old enough to go to Hogsmeade on the weekends, Mel had invited Patty to her house after going through the shops and having lunch at the Tavern or the Inn.

With the tension the two were under, the morning dragged by, and by the time they got to Mel's house at No 8 Quaffle Ln, Mel was nearly in tears.

In the House, they found that Mel's father had gone to work, which was normal, and that her mother was out shopping in Diagon Alley.

Patty turned to Mel. "We're alone, and nobody is going to disturb us. Would you please tell me what's wrong? All week you've been looking at me like I'm growing a second head."

Mel tried to make an excuse, but she'd never been very good at lying. Patty just looked at her. "I'm your best friend, we tell each other everything."

With the secret Mel had been keeping all week, and the stress she'd been under it was not surprising that that comment set her off. Her head came up, and her eyes were blazing. "Sure we do. Just like you told me that you dream about me at night."

Patty stared at her until she figured out what Mel meant. She turned several shades of red and crimson, and sat on the couch, pulling her knees up to her chin and wrapping her arms around herself. Slow tears ran down her face, and she kept her eyes closed as she spoke. "I didn't want you to know. You've never thought of me that way, and I want your friendship more than I want anything like that. You're my best friend, and the only person in the House that I want to do pranks with at night. I would rather have that than anything else you could give me, especially if you weren't interested."

Mel froze at Patty's next words. "I know you don't think of me like that, and if you don't want to be friends anymore, I understand."

Mel looked at her friend. Patty was curled up, holding her legs up close to her body, with her head down on her knees, and her body shook with silent sobs.

Mel stared at Patty, the events of the last three years flashing through her head. Pranks, lunches, giggling confidences, studying, detentions, all the things they'd done together. She tried to imagine school without Patty trying to get her to do new things, or anything.

Mel stared at Patty, and slowly thought about everything they'd done, and been through. It wasn't the good times that made up her mind for her, but their arguments. When they did argue, it had usually been Patty that started the making up, and Patty that apologized. Patty had always been there for Mel, when her parents were too busy, or simply didn't care about whatever they were doing.

Mel might not think of Patty in the way Patty wanted, but she did love her.

She got up from her chair, and knelt in front of Patty. "If you can accept me the way I am, how could I do any less for you?"

Patty looked up, staring into Mel's eyes with eyes gone red and swollen from crying. Mel smiled at her, and held her arms out. Patty leaned forward and rested her head on Melinda's shoulder as Mel hugged her gently. "I can't promise you that I'll be the way I was, but I can try."

Patty's voice was muffled as she spoke. "I don't care. As long as you're my friend, I can make it. I just wouldn't know what to do if you didn't want to be my friend anymore."

Melinda held her for a minute longer, and then got up. She offered Patty her hand. "Come on, you have to wash your face, and suddenly, I'm hungry. I think we need to eat the lunch we didn't eat earlier."

Patty smiled weakly, and took her hand. Melinda helped her up, and shooed her toward the bathroom while she went into the kitchen to make some lunch.

They had an occasional fight, but by the end of the year, their relationship was back to the way it was before Melinda found out Patty's secret.

The only thing that changed was not Patty's fault, and Melissa never even told her about it. Mel had thought about what Patty felt for her, and then forgotten it. At least, she tried. Sometimes, when she wasn't thinking about anything in particular, she'd wonder what it would be like if she did like Patty.

It wasn't a regular thing, and Mel just assumed it was normal when you knew a member of the same sex liked you, so she didn't worry about it.

This summer was much like the ones before it, with Melinda owling Patty regularly, and Patty responding occasionally.

Two weeks before the new school years, Patty came to spend the rest of the summer with Mel. Patty's parents were going to Turkey on a job, breaking a particularly nasty curse found at an old castle. Since the job was going to be particularly dangerous, Patty couldn't go with them, and was going to stay with her uncle. She didn't like that idea, so she talked Mel into asking her parents if she could stay there.

Mel's parents were hesitant, but finally allowed it, and Patty arrived early one Saturday morning. Mel and Patty had a lot of fun over the next week, running all around Hogsmeade, and even seeing how close they were willing to come to the old Parsdon Mansion at the northern edge of town. People had been claiming it was haunted for over a hundred years, and there were some truly gruesome stories about it. The old castle was falling apart, and that, more than anything else was what kept most young people away from the place.

Three days before the term started, Melinda woke up one morning with a start. She'd been dreaming about being on a picnic with Patty, and the dream had taken a definite erotic turn. When she woke, she was mortified to find that her body had responded to the erotic images her sub conscious mind had been playing in her mind. She went to the shower, and took a quick shower. It wasn't quite a cold shower, but it was definitely cool enough to contain the ardor her body was feeling.

She spent the hour before Patty woke up thinking about what had happened. She was changing a lot of her assumptions, and in the end, as Patty began stirring, Melinda came to a decision.

She watched Patty wake up and when Patty was sitting up, Melinda said something she'd been thinking for a while, but never had the courage to say.

"I love you."

_A/N: Don't go away folks, there's another chapter to the story, and it will be arriving soon. Until then, I would like to remind you all that writers, even strangely warped ones like myself are prone to write more and faster if they get some feedback once in awhile. In other words my friends, Read (Which you have already done, or you would not be looking at this part of the page.) and review._


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